Book Review of THE NEW BAD THING by Michael Ebner

THE NEW BAD THING by Michael Ebner  (Pen and Picture Books, September 2023) Kindle edition, 137 pages. 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Crime thriller readers of ordinary-people-in-extraordinary-circumstances will enjoy this acclaimed new series – where espionage and mafia worlds collide with Seattle reporter, Teagan Penn. By award-winning author, Michael Ebner, a Kirkus Reviews ‘Best Books of the Year’ author.

“An entertaining page-turner that mixes punchy shootouts with resonant soul-searching. Ebner gives his characters rich back stories and complex motivations. Teagan proves to be an appealing hero with depth and determination – readers will enjoy rooting for her. GET IT. ” - Kirkus Reviews

“Ebner has crafted a fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists and turns that make it difficult to recognize fact from fiction.”

– San Francisco Book Review

“Intense thriller. An ending you will not see coming.” – Los Angeles Book Review

“Global terrorism, mafias and one woman running from her personal struggles to try and make a difference form this twisting action thriller. A good recommendation for fans of action, thrillers and espionage.” – LoveReading (UK)

"The excitement in this book starts right from the first chapter" – Chicago Book Review

“The next best thing its readers pick up. Engaging and exciting from the beginning. Teagan has no choice but to fight fire with fire.” – Portland Book Review

“A riveting story. Makes the reader feel they are on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what happens next.”

– Seattle Book Review

Teagan is successful in her own right but she’s not the crusader journalist she aspired to be back in college. She needs a personal distraction and decides to make a difference in the world to help others. When a foreign news story shocks her to the core, she takes matters into her own hands and starts a special project. But not everybody will be happy about her illegally funded venture. When Teagan travels to Paris to deal with a project setback, she wakes up in a luxury hotel in the middle of a terrorist siege. Or is it a planned attack on her life?

Like other survivors from the siege, she is taken to a local police station. Routine questioning turns to intense interrogation by an American–a European Counterterrorism agent–Robert Lexington. She is the only one in custody who has seen Roman in the last ten years. Teagan is persuaded by Lexington to help locate him–a high priority person of interest–and in return she will avoid the courts and military prison back home. What follows is a challenging personal journey for Teagan across Europe and America. She must draw on her experience as a skilled interviewer, improviser and investigator to find the ghost-like Roman for her family's survival.

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     A good, fast-reading, page-turner of an action/thriller that I rate at 3.5 Stars, but raise it up because Goodreads doesn't have a way to handle fractions. I didn't realize this was the first novel in a new series until the latter third of the story when Ebner started adding details for future installments. 

     A surprising and twist ending that seemed a bit rushed but leaves the door open for more - - also sad, and perhaps unnecessary, but provides a motivation for future stories.

     Teagan is an unlikely character to be thrust into these situations but her skills as an interviewer and investigator serve her well, and she learns how to manage the organizations pulling her strings without fully compromising herself.

Good characterization, good back-story. I would definitely come back for Book #2.